Browse Category: Sleep
Do you often feel like an outcast, regardless of how many friends you have? Or, do you pine for that feeling of “belonging”? Maybe you find yourself alone at night a few too many times throughout the week. Given the holidays are in full swing, you might be having these emotions even more often. Well, it turns out feeling lonely could have adverse effects on your health, beginning with
restless sleep and long nights. Researchers have recently learned more about a strong link between one's loneliness and sleep quality.
Most of us have experienced an occasional night when no matter what we do, sleep just won’t come. But if you’re stricken with persistent insomnia, trying to get to sleep can seem almost impossible. In these cases sleep deprivation is not just a nuisance; it’s a chronic condition that can have serious, far-reaching effects on your overall health.
In today’s world, it seems that our days are hectic with more and more stuff to do and less time to do it in. Between being all we can be as parents, employees, entrepreneurs, and civic patrons; we can barely find time to eat and sleep. Moreover, more of us take less time for both of these very vital bodily requirements. In the following discussion, we examine just why getting enough sleep is so important to your overall health, and compelling reasons to start prioritizing your health over all these busy tasks you may have that are stopping you from getting adequate sleep.
Are you a good sleeper? Or, do you have a hard time falling asleep when it’s time to turn in? Maybe your problem is staying asleep through the night? Or worse, like me, do you suffer from both of the latter?
Bouts with insomnia, restless nights, and serious sleep conditions aren’t just for grown-ups. Kids’ nighttime issues are becoming more and more recognized in the medical community, and for good reason as you’re about to discover. Keep reading to make sure you’re not ignoring the signs of a much bigger problem when it comes to your kids and nighty-night time.
If you’re one of those people who feels like a zombie the day after a
restless night’s sleep, you can give science a giant “I told you so.” It turns out that not only do we function at a slower level the longer we’re awake, but we also struggle with similar tasks at night; even if we don’t know what time it is.
Eight hours a day keeps the doctor away . . . in an ideal world. We know medical research tells us to get more sleep, but for a society on a perma-drip of caffeine and chaos, it’s easier preached than practiced. In fact, over a third of U.S. adults are considered sleep deprived, over 60 million suffer from insomnia, and over 16 million receive prescriptions for sleeping pills, according to the National Commission on Sleep Disorders Research. These statistics render sleep deprivation one of society’s most detrimental epidemics.
I will probably never understand the importance of hitting a certain number on the scale before you become a blushing bride. What I do know, is that I’ve heard of women going on cleanses, drinking nothing but bark tea, and even embarking on the occasional cookie diet . . . just to get down a few dress sizes before your entire family is obligated to stare at you for hours.
Waking up minutes, hours . . . any amount of time really before the alarm clock screeches in your ear can be sheer agony – especially if you’re going on little sleep for days in a row. The idea of going to work on too little sleep is enough to make anyone cringe, especially when you’re always being told how getting eight hours of sleep every night is important for your health. But is it really?
Some revisited historical data along with some new evidence suggests otherwise.
There is nothing as refreshing as a good night's sleep. On the other hand, the consequences of insufficient or poor quality sleep are profound.
Social networking sites can help enhance treatment for insomnia, anxiety and depression.
Do you have a time in your life that is so painful; you wish you could forget it altogether? Perhaps a
death of a loved one, a time away at war, or even a rape?
We have talked before about how going to bed earlier in the day keeps you leaner, and how you can
build memories while you sleep, but what impact could sleep have on your academic success and overall intelligence?
The sleep process, along with any benefits associated with it, has always been largely mysterious to scientists. But recent breakthroughs in science and technology are finally allowing small glimpses into the unknown.
If your child stays up until the late hours of the night playing Call of Duty online with friends, and then sleeps all day, then it might be time to
cancel their Xbox Live subscription. For many years now, everyone thought that the most important part of sleep is how long you sleep; eight hours a night if you are this age, six hours a night if you are that age, etc. A recent study suggests that rather than sleep quantity, the
times that you go to sleep and wake up are more important.
If you live in Southern California, and even if you don’t, you may have been following the trial of Doctor Conrad Murray – Michael Jackson’s personal doctor, who was with the pop star at the time of his death back in 2009. Much of the controversy of the trial, and Jackson’s death, surrounds the alleged use of the drug propofol as a
sleep aid.
If you suffer from nocturnal leg cramps then you are all too aware of how painful they can be. Not only is being jolted from your sleep with an
aching “Charley Horse” a rude awakening, the excruciating contractions of your calf or foot muscles may have you bolting out of bed to find some relief. Though leg cramps are a common complaint, the medical community doesn't fully understand them. But because they often occur predominantly at night, the International Classification of Sleep Disorders has categorized “sleep-related leg cramps” as an official sleep disorder.
It’s a common scenario. A husband and wife go to bed at the same time every night . . . yet while the guy is out like a light with the flick of a switch, the woman tosses and turns for what seems like hours. Sound familiar?
Sleep Apnea is a disorder that affects many people of different ages, being more common in men. Although it may seem that it is not a serious or life-threatening condition, it can significantly decrease your quality of life.
It may sound silly, but what you eat can drastically affect how you sleep. So in order to get a good night’s rest, it is essential to choose foods that calm your mind and body rather than those that stimulate you. Certain types of foods will naturally promote rest and relaxation, particularly those that contain
tryptophan – the amino acid that the body uses to make serotonin, which is the neurotransmitter that slows nerve activity within your brain.
